Last week I had the opportunity to view Little Women at a media screening. After I left the movie I came to a realization. I have no idea what the heck Little Women is even about. I remember watching another version with my cousins on more than one occasion. Apparently it’s a popular book in schools, but nope…. drawing a blank. So here goes my attempt at a Little Women review for those who are as utterly confused as I am.
About Little Women
Following the lives of four sisters, Amy, Jo, Beth and Meg, as they come of age in America in the aftermath of the Civil War. Though all very different from each other, the March sisters stand by each other through difficult and changing times.
How Is Little Women 2019 Different Than The Ones Before?
The one thing that Greta Gerwig did differently (and perhaps where she lost me) is decided to tell the story of the March sisters completely out of sequence. There were moments were it seemed like the story was jumping back and forth through time and I feel like it made it completely impossible to keep up with the plot. I also screened the movie coming off of a 4:30am work shift, with just 3 hours of sleep so perhaps my lack of coherency contributed to that.) If this is your first encounter with Little Women, it’s going to be hard to hold your interest. Despite that, this movie definitely has a more modern feel. The Jo March of 2019 (Saoirse Ronan) is definitely no Winona Ryder, and thats not necessarily a bad thing for this version of the movie.
My Actual Reaction to Little Women
Screening this movie actually made me come to the realization that I have no idea what the hell this is about. Which is disappointing because I have always been a reader. Is the book any good? I honestly didn’t even know there were multiple adaptations to the story, having only previously seen the version with Winona Ryder. All in all, I’m not able to say that I LOVED this movie which feels disappointing. I really WANTED to love it with Ronan and Emma Watson (because Potterhead). I just feel like in the year of remakes, this one didn’t do it for me. There were moments I laughed but I definitely didn’t FEEL this movie as much as I wanted to. Perhaps I need to read the book to truly appreciate it. Maybe I need to go see it again with a more open mind and a little more sleep. Or maybe I’m just not a TRUE fan of the story. And that’s fine by me. This Little Women review couldn’t have gone any other way.
Little Women is in theaters everywhere Christmas Day!
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